Some time ago I installed some Rancho RS9000's with the remote controller. It came with a small air compressor. It looks to me like any you would find in the emergency "cigarette lighter powered" compressors from Walmart. It occurred to me that it would be pretty simple to make an "on-board" air supply pretty cheap. If I added a small storage tank and a pressure switch to turn the compressor on and off, I could have inflation air and whatever else on the road. Has anyone else approached this idea?

 

On my "other" truck, I got on board air to run 2 Grover 29" air horns and also run air lift bags from inside the cab. Go with a Thomas 315 compressor and at least a 2 gallon tank....Coolest mod I did!
PM me if you want more details...
Todd

 

the smaller compressors like the rancho one aren't meant to run for long periods of time. they tend to seize when they get hot and will melt the piston. if you're looking for on board air, buy a compressor that is made to do it, or get a co2 tank and regulator. i did the tank route and love it. i've had on-board air compressors and they just take too long to fill tires. the co2 tank can fill all my tires (truck and trailer) 3 or 4 times before refill is needed and only costs about $10-12 to fill. the system cost me about $150 for everything and is faster than my shop compressor. my $.02.

 

Be careful when filling tires with CO2. CO2 interacts with moisture (and there's plenty in your tires) to form Carbonic Acid, which will eat your rims from the inside. It's OK in an emergency, but you should purge them well afterwards. This is why CO2 tanks are only certified for 5 years instead of the usual 10 for other gases.

 

i was thinking about whats used on the big rigs ,and am trying to find an air compressor that i can run off the accessory drive(the gearing that runs the p/s pump.)
on my rigs(two big cam 3's and one n14) the acc drive runs the compressor and fuel pump and the p/s pump)
im looking for a compressor off an old Blue bird school bus.(one with air brakes and a 5.9 in it.
has anyone done this?
i know you would need an air tank,a drier and a govener to regulate the pressure (all inexpensive...some what )
the compressor new is big bucks,$700-1000 new.
any input would be great, then you could run all ,air horns and all.

Adam

 

You may want to check out what this guy has http://www.onboardair.com/

I've not used his products, nor am I affiliated. However, the people that use his products seem to like them.

brandon.

 

Here's my on board air.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...threadid=37000

 

I just got through looking into this getting down to what bolts to what. The Ford F700 and F800 with the Cummins has this bolt on deal. Watch with the commercial versions of the engine. Most of them have a different gear case housing which places the compressor out about an inch from where it would be on yours. Not sure why, the compressor may be too big. You could successfully use the other gear casing and cover, but the cam has to come out to change it. You might measure the distance from the studs to the block and make sure you have enough clearance. Both seem to use the same gear. We did a lot of matching cover to cover to find this out. I had my choice of using either cover and decided to go with the Dodge case and cover just in case of other problems. Also make sure you brace the back of the compressor real well. The compressor that uses the dodge type gear case is the Holset. The other concern is the power steering pump. May have to use the one that is on the compressor, so the pressure should be the same, would have to check that. The school bus may have the larger compressor, do not know that.

 

thanks haulin in dixie ,
have you tried this? if so ,would you have model numbers of the pump?
thats great info,it sure opens up my search

 

No I only received the information yesterday. I have engine problems and am setting up a new long block. This block came with the other gear housing and discussion comparing advise, I was shown a Ford F800 (truck nose) that had this setup on it with the Dodge style case, so I went ahead and changed to the Dodge case. I was planning this change soon but now have bigger fish and financial drain, so it waits. Also with the engine out the leaking vac pump and ps pump will be fixed easily. It looks like to me, no problem. You will have to come up with a vac source for the heater and cruise. My understanding is that Ford uses an electric pump for this. Our big and expensive pump is a leftover from the vacuum brakes of the earlier models.

 

Don't know if anyone has tried this yet or not but I too gave up on the 12 volt compressors. They melt every time you need one.

I have been told to get a electric compressor out of a LEXUS,CAD, or any of the auto level cars. They retail for about $500 but are quite resonable at wrecking yards and do a good job.

 

I always wondered why you needed to change the air in your tires.
Seriously, has anyone tried using a nitrogen tank and regulator for sommething like this? Would that work or are there other hazzards with nitrogen?

 

Nitrogen is an excellent choice for filling tires. It's not technically an inert gas, but in practice it is non-reactive. It's non-flammable, it's not an oxidizer, it's not "sneaky" like helium, and it's dirt cheap. Just about every racing team in the world inflates their tires with nitrogen, you'd be in good company. The drawback to nitrogen compared with CO2 as an onboard air source is that the CO2 is a liquid in the cylinder, so you get a much larger volume of "air" for a given tank size. Nitrogen would be fine for filling tires, but you'd rip through it almost immediately if you tried to use it to run air tools. With a decent impact gun you can change 4 tires 4 or 5 times on a 15# tank of CO2. A similar sized nitrogen tank would have a hard time getting all 4 tires off and on once. And I wasn't BS'ing or being a worry wart when I said that CO2 in your tires is a bad idea long term. Tires usually start out wet inside because of the soapy water used as a lubricant when mounting them, and unless your air compressor has a good drier on it, you put more water in every time you add air. When you use the free air (now usually $.25 air) at the gas station, you're guaranteed to get a good dose of water. CO2 + water = carbonic acid, which is real nasty stuff. It loves to eat metal. Go ahead and use CO2 in the tires to get yourself out of the woods, but once you're back in civilization pull the valve cores and do at least 3 or 4 fill/deflate cycles with compressed air.

 

I have the Kilby On-Board Air system. It works great. I have a 4 gallon tank
When I change my tires the compressor usually has the tank full before I am done. I have a throttle kicker on mine. When ever the clutch on the compressor engages the engine seeds up to 1600rpm.
I looked into using the Cummins set up, but ran into too many obsticals. One was cost the parts new came to $3100 by the time I got all of the bracket, compressor, hoses, new P/S pump and reservior, and vacuum pump.
Second was possible interference between the P/S pump and motor motor mount (i didn"t confirm this). Third was just the amount of work involved.
I bought Kilby's basic kit. Supplied my own compressor. I have about $500 in it total. and 90 minutes to install

 

I have a suggestion, I work for freightliner and finding a gear drive pump like on a big rig would not only be pretty expensive but you also would need an air drier, air governor to regulate pressure. I do know several people that have gone to a junk yard, and for around $50 you can get a compressor off a caddi,or ltd or anything that has an air leveling system and they say it will fill your tank in no time. I hope this helps.